Men's Soccer Picked No. 1 in Preseason Poll

Montclair, NJ (8/25/08)
– The Montclair State men’s soccer team has finished the last two
seasons atop the New Jersey Athletic Conference. In the announcement of
the 2008 Preseason Coaches Poll, the Red Hawks are picked to do the
same again.

Receiving
seven of the of the 10 first-place votes, MSU was a near overwhelming
favorite to win a third straight championship. New Jersey City
University, which fell in the each of the last two conference title
games to Montclair State, was picked second and got the other three
first-place votes. Richard Stockton was chosen third followed by
Rutgers-Camden, The College of New Jersey, Ramapo, Rowan, Kean,
Rutgers-Newark (the league’s darkhorse choice) and William Paterson.

Montclair
State, which is ranked seventh in the National Soccer Coaches
Association Division III Preseason Poll, has dominated the conference
the past two seasons posting a 16-2 mark while earning an automatic bid
to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Last year, MSU went 19-3-1 (7-2 in
the NJAC) and defeated NJCU 1-0 in the tournament title game in Jersey
City. The two teams would later meet in the Sectional semifinals of the
NCAA Tournament with Montclair pulling out a 3-2 overtime win. The Red
Hawks fell to perennial NCAA contender Messiah the following day, 1-0.
Over the last two seasons, Montclair has posted a 39-4-2.

The
Red Hawks kickoff their season on Saturday, August 30 as they face Penn
State Altoona in the Citrano Medical Labs Kick-off Classic held at
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Montclair returns 10 of 11
starters from last year’s team, including four All-Conference members.

Leading that group is senior goalkeeper Nick Mele ( Delran, NJ / Delran),
who was chosen Second-Team All- America by the NSCAA. Mele, the NJAC
Goalkeeper of the Year and First-Team All-NJAC selection, posted a 0.60
goals against average and made 87 saves while posting 12 shutouts. A
three-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Week award winner, Mele set the
Montclair single-season record for victories and posted the
second-highest total for shutouts in a season as he led the conference
in both those categories. In addition, he was second in the league in
save percentage (.870) and fourth in total saves. In the final NCAA
Division III statistics, Mele was ranked sixth in save percentage and
18th in goals against average. The Red Hawks were ranked in the Top 20
as a team in goals against average (16th), save percentage (9th) and
shutouts per game (9th).

Also back is senior striker Tyler Masterson ( Long Valley, NJ / West Morris Central).
Masterson was named to both the NSCAA and D3Kicks.com Metro Region
First Team and earned All-NJAC First Team honors as he led the team in
points, goals and game-winning goals. Masterson, who finished second in
the NJAC in points scored and goals, and led the league in game-winning
tallies, collected 16 goals and 36 points while knocking in seven
game-winning markers.

Senior Eric Pfeifer ( Wyckoff, NJ / Ramapo) and junior Joseph Cullen ( Clementon, NJ / Highland)
round out the returning All-Conference players. Pfeifer anchored one of
the nation’s stingiest defensive units as MSU allowed just 13 goals in
23 games last season. Pfeifer will be joined by senior captain Owen Amster ( Somerville, NJ / Somerville) and Brian Miles ( Newtown, CT / Newtown).
Cullen started all 23 contests last season and received Third-Team
All-Region honors from the NSCAA while garnering Second-Team All-NJAC
accolades.

Following Montclair’s
appearance in Baltimore, the Red Hawks return back for home for a
four-game homestand beginning on Wednesday, September 3 as they face
Mount St. Vincent at the MSU Soccer Park (3:30 pm). Montclair opens up
it NJAC slate on Saturday, September 20 versus Rowan University in a
6:00 pm matchup under the lights of Sprague Field.